May 17, 2013 - ExxonMobil contracted FMC Technologies to supply subsea equipment for the Julia field in the US Gulf of Mexico. The decision to develop Julia was recently made by the US oil major and its partner Statoil. FMC will provide six subsea trees, a manifold with associated tie-in equipment for the deepwater field. Julia is located in the Walker Ridge area and boasts water depths of 7,000-feet. The partners expect to bring the field on-stream in 2016.

May 17, 2013 - Pemex announced its third ultra-deepwater discovery in the Mexican sector of the Gulf of Mexico. Maximino-1 was drilled in the Perdido Basin in 9,515 feet of water. The company did not give specific details concerning the well but did state that crude had been discovered. Well testing is underway to assess recoverable volumes.

May 16, 2013 - In anticipation of the third development phase of the Bayu-Undan gas field in the Timor Sea, ConocoPhillips issued a $26 million contract to FMC Technologies for the supply of long lead items such as subsea trees, wellheads, jumper kits and associated control systems. Detailed engineering and additional procurement activities will begin once the field partners announce the final investment decision mid-2013. Additionally, the partners are seeking a suitable semisubmersible to carry out the third phase development drilling program which is expected to begin 2Q 2014.

May 16, 2013 - Xodus Group has been selected by Premier Oil to conduct a front end engineering and design (FEED) study for the Catcher field development in the central North Sea. To complete the $1.9 million FEED study, Xodus will develop and engineer field and subsea architecture, flow assurance processes, subsea control systems, pipelines and tie-ins, as well as provide technical safety and risk support. Premier and its partners, Wintershall and Cairn, hope to have the design phase completed by 4Q 2013.

May 16, 2013 - GeoPark Holdings acquired a 10% working interest in Brazil's largest producing natural gas field through the acquisition of a Panoro Energy subsidiary. The Manati gas field is located in block BC-AM-40 in 150-feet of water. Petrobras operates the field with a 35% working interest with partners Queiroz Galvao (45%) and Brasoil (10%).

May 15, 2013 - Statoil, operator of the Mariner development in the UK North Sea, awarded Noble Corp. a 4-year contract to provide development drilling services using a newbuild jackup based on Statoil's Cat J specifications. The rig will be an enhanced version of GustoMSC's CJ-70 design and will be capable of drilling in 500 feet of water to a depth of 33,000 feet using either surface or subsea stacks. Development drilling is expected to commence between May and September 2016. Total estimated value of the contract is $655 million including mobilization costs.

May 15, 2013 - Alaska's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission completed its final inspection of the Endeavour, Spirit of Independence (300' ILC) and issued the final certificate that was needed for the rig to start drilling in Alaskan state waters. Upon receipt of the certificate, Endeavour spud the Cosmo-1 well which is testing a portion of the Cosmopolitan oil discovery. Cosmo-1 will be drilled vertically to a depth of 8,000 feet. Once TD is reached, the well will be plugged back to the bottom of the Tyonek gas formation so that the zone can be perforated and flow tested to determine commerciality. Buccaneer (25%) operates Cosmopolitan on behalf of its partner, privately-owned BlueCrest Energy.

May 15, 2013 - A second drill stem test (DST) was carried out on the Lengo-2 appraisal well in the Bulu PSC offshore Indonesia. AWE reported achieving a maximum flow rate of 21.2 MMscfd. Flow rates and gas samples correspond with the first DST that was performed on the well and are inline with pre-drill expectations. Data from Lengo-1 and Lengo-2 will be combined to form a more accurate assessment of the possible development potential of the Lengo field. The Bulu PSC joint venture partners include KrisEnergy (42.5%) as operator, AWE Limited (42.5%), PT Satira Energindo (10%) and PT Wijaya Kusuma (5%).

May 14, 2013 - Europa Oil & Gas has been granted consent by the Irish Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to transfer interest and operatorship of Licensing Options (LO) 11/7 and 11/8 to a subsidiary of Kosmos Energy Ltd. Kosmos now operates and owns 85% of the licenses covering a total area of roughly 770 square miles in the South Porcupine Basin on the Irish Atlantic Margin. Under the terms of the farm-in, Kosmos will fully fund a 3D seismic program on each license and pay 85% of costs incurred by Europa to date. The partners will now submit an application to the Irish Government to convert each license into a 15-year Frontier Exploration License. Key targets in each license are the Mullen and Kiernan prospects which represent the same Cretacious stratigraphic play Kosmos pursued in the Atlantic Margin Basins off West Africa.

May 14, 2013 - Karoon Gas Australia and Pacific Rubiales recently announced an oil discovery at the Bilby prospect in Santos Basin block S-M-1166. The potential size of the discovery has been increased thanks to wireline pressure data and fluid samples taken from the identified reservoir intervals. The gross oil column, previously announced at 656 feet, is now estimated at just over 1,000 feet and is comprised of Eocene, Paleocene and Maastrichtian sands. Petrophysical logs indicate 230 feet of net oil-bearing reservoir with porosities up to 23%. Drilling will continue to 15,000 feet to test deeper Santonian targets.

May 14, 2013 - Spike Exploration announced its entry into the Athena field partnership with its 15% acquisition of Dyas UK Limited's majority interest. Athena is operated by Ithaca Energy with a 22.5% interest in the license. Upon completion of the agreement, the remaining equity holders will be Dyas (17.5%), EWE Energie (20%), Trap Oil (15%), Zeus Petroleum (10%) and Spike Exploration (15%). Spike is a newly formed oil and gas company with plans to become a major exploration player on the UK continental shelf. The Athena field is located in block 14/18b and was brought on stream in May 2012. Currently, the field is producing just over 10,000 boepd.

May 14, 2013 - BG Norge was given consent to carry out development drilling, completion operations and well testing on the Knarr field using the Transocean Searcher (mid-water semisub). The development program is expected to commence in June 2013 and last for 90-days. Knarr is estimated to hold 60 MMboe worth of gross reserves. Production will be facilitated through two production wells tied-back to a leased FPSO.

May 14, 2013 - Afren and Lekoil Limited recently completed a farm-out agreement in which Lekoil acquired a 17.14% participating interest in the OPL 310 license offshore Nigeria. In exchange for the equity, Lekoil is to pay Afren up to $50 million in relation to the Ogo-1 exploration (and planned sidetrack well) well that is currently being drilled in the license by the GSF Monitor (350' ILC). In a recent independent assessment, NSAI evaluated gross P50 resources in OPL 310 at 476 MMboe. The farm-out agreement is still subject to Nigerian Ministerial consent. Once complete, Optimum Petroleum Development will continue to serve as operator with a 60% interest and Afren will hold a 22.86% interest.

May 13, 2013 - Statoil and Total are interested in swapping equity in adjacent Norwegian assets in the Barents Sea. If approved by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Statoil will acquire 10% equity from Total in PL535 and Total will acquire 10% equity in PL395 from Statoil. Both licenses are located on the Bjarmeland Platform area in the central Barents Sea, an area with proven gas resources. License PL395 contains the Ververis discovery and PL535 contains Norvarg and Norvarg South. An appraisal well is currently being drilled at Norvarg South.

May 13, 2013 - The partners of Production License 330 in the Norwegian North Sea have been granted a drilling permit for well 6608/2-1 S. Issued by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), the permit clears the way for the Transocean Winner (mid-water semisub) to drill an exploration well on the Sverdrup prospect. The Sverdrup wildcat will be the first well drilled in the license. RWE-Dea serves as the operator with a 40% stake. Marathon Oil and Lundin Petroleum each hold 30% interest in the license. Sverdrup is a structural trap with presumed Upper/Middle Jurassic reservoir.